


The Christmas Compromise

by KelseaGrumbles



Series: Kelsea's Birthday Celebration Fic 2020 [7]
Category: It Lives (Visual Novels)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bickering, Christmas, F/M, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, Santa Dies Guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28222467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KelseaGrumbles/pseuds/KelseaGrumbles
Summary: The fic is apart of my Tumblr Birthday Celebration fics where I'm letting my followers request fics for me to write!Have I ever mentioned how much I absolutely ADORE Mr. Tomoichi Sato? And it’s basically all thanks to my lovely @elfilibusterismo (on tumblr) who just so happened to graciously requested this prompt. Jam, you are the light of my life and this prompt was so them. I truly hope you enjoy it!
Relationships: Tom Sato/Main Character (It Lives Beneath)
Series: Kelsea's Birthday Celebration Fic 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973386





	The Christmas Compromise

**Author's Note:**

> This was a little ficlet request with the following prompts:
> 
> Fluff 7. “You’re an idiot.” “But you love me.”
> 
> Prompts will be bolded
> 
> I am also participating in @choicesficwriterscreations Winter Season event and utilized their prompt #2:
> 
> 2\. Characters A and B go out to buy decorations for Christmas tree. A wants a tree with traditional Christmas decorations. B wants to put miniatures of characters they like. Fight starts.

Harper and Tom’s first real fight was a doozy. We’re talking pillows thrown across the room, gaming controllers crashing to the ground and yelling that could be heard all the way back in Westchester. There were tears shed and harsh words shared. And it was all because of one tiny yet explosive disagreement.

The pair could not decide on what Christmas ornaments to hang on their first Christmas tree.

~~~~~

_“Tomoichi Sato, we are_ not _putting little Star Wars figures on our very first, very real Christmas tree,” Harper exhaled as they made their way down the bustling holiday aisle._

_“And why not?” he asked, sidestepping around a young family with a cart full of holiday cheer._

_Harper sighed, running her hand down her face. “I don’t even like Star Wars.”_

_This wasn’t brand new information to Tom, but she could tell it still struck a nerve with him. “Fine,” he conceded before responding with another suggestion. “How about Harry Potter? You love Harry Potter!”_

_He was right, she did love Harry Potter. But not enough to make their entire tree centered around it. Suddenly Harper stopped halfway down the aisle in front of a large display of multicolored ball ornaments._

_“Here!” she said with a gleeful smile. “These are the ornaments I want. Something traditional and colorful and fun.”_

_Tom glanced wearily at the array of ornaments. “You call these fun?” They’re just boring balls.”_

_Harper’s brows furrowed as she glared at her boyfriend. “Yes they’re fun. And classic.”_

_Before Tom could form a rebuttal, there was a loud crash behind the couple followed by the sound of kids crying. The two turned to look, spotting the remnants of a plastic Santa - which had previously been at the very top of the shelf - now laid shattered on the aisle floor. A very distraught looking father with wide eyes stared down at the mess as his two young sons wailed and sobbed, clearly traumatized._

_“Uh, I think we should go,” Harper said, tugging on the sleeve of Tom’s hoodie._

_He nodded his head, still staring in disbelief at the sight in front of him before turning to follow his girlfriend out the out. “Yeah, okay, but don’t think we’re not done with this conversation.”_

_~~~~~_

_As they settled on the couch of Harper’s off-campus apartment several hours later, their earlier conversation started to pick up again._

_“So,” Tom began as he plopped his feet in Harper’s lap, “was that a ‘no’ to the Harry Potter ornaments or…?”_

_Harper rolled her eyes before tickling the soles of his feet. Tom quickly snatched his feet from her lap, nearly tumbling off the couch in the process. “Hey! What was that for?”_

_“I already told you, Tom. I want something more traditional.”_

_Tom frowned. “But where’s the fun in that?”_

_“There’s plenty of fun!” she remarked, crossing her arms over her chest. “Plus it would just look nicer. I’ve never had a real tree and I just think that classic ornaments would complement it better.”_

_Tom stood from the couch, making his way into the tiny kitchen just off the living room. He stopped in front of the fridge where he pulled out a bottle of soda. “But that’s just not us, Harper.”_

_Harper let out a frustrated groan. “It’s my apartment and I decide how to decorate.”_

_Tom paused mid swig of the carbonated drink before pulling it from his lips and setting it down on the counter. A very obvious frown tugged at his lips which only made Harper frown in return._

_“Then why did you even bother inviting me and asking for my opinion if you weren’t even going to take it into consideration?” he replied._

_“I- I don’t know. I didn’t think it would matter,” she answered, one hand coming up to rub at the back of her neck._

_Tom walked out of the kitchen and headed down the hallway towards the bedroom. Before he made it through the door he quietly mumbled to himself. “What a waste of time.”_

_But it wasn’t quiet enough and his words hit Harper’s ears instantly. “Excuse me?” she exclaimed before bouncing up from the couch to follow him into her bed. The gaming controlled that had previously been on the armrest clattered to the floor._

_“Look, Harper, I don’t want to argue with you right now,” Tom said as he shouldered the door into her room._

_“Well it’s too late for that,” she countered, hot on his heels._

~~~~~

And that’s how they got here, the apartment slightly a mess with Harper crying alone on the bed. Tom had left two, maybe three hours ago. Saying he “needed some air” before grabbing his hoodie and heading out into the cold night.

Stupid.

That’s how Harper was feeling. Completely and utterly foolish. So incredibly dumb that an argument so small ended with him storming out and left her crying into her pillow. And the regret she was feeling was immeasurable. All because they couldn’t agree on the stupid ornaments.

_“I should call him,”_ she thought to herself. 

The two had never been in a real fight and she felt absolutely awful about the whole thing. She knew that they couldn’t leave things like this.

Without moving from where she laid on the bed, Harper reached out to the side table and grabbed her phone. With shaking hands she wiped her face and nose before unlocking the phone to navigate to his number. With her thumb hovering over the call button, she closed her eyes and let out a long and tired sigh.

_Click click._

Harper quickly opened her eyes, her phone falling down to the mattress.

_“Harper?”_

She didn’t answer with words. Instead she jumped up from the bed - nearly tripping over the blanket that had wrapped around her ankles - and damn near sprinted into the living room.

“Harper, I am so sor-” Tom’s apology was quickly silenced as Harper jumped into his arms - effectively toppling them to the floor - and pressing her lips to his.

“No… I’m… Sorry,” she said between kisses.

Several heated minutes later, Harper finally crawled off her boyfriend and pulled him up until they were standing on solid ground. She kept their hands laced together. Tom rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, his cheeks tinged a light pink. “I really am sorry,” he said.

Harper couldn’t help but smile. She leaned in and placed a chaste kiss to his cheek. “I am, too. It wasn’t fair for me to not listen to you.”

Tom nodded his head before an almost smug-like grin plastered his face. “So does that mean plan ‘Harry Potter ornaments’ is a- ow!” Tom gingerly rubbed at his shoulder where his girlfriend ever so lovingly had punched him.

**“You’re an idiot,”** Harper said with a roll of her eyes.

Tom pouted before curling his lips. **“But you love me.”** It wasn’t a question.

Harper couldn’t hide the grin threatening on her face. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

“Good,” Tom replied before reaching out and wrapping Harper in a bear hug. “Because I was kidding.” He released her before digging into his pocket to pull out his phone. “And while I was out, I did some research.”

Harper was quick to raise her brows. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” Tom said with a nod, not looking away from his phone to see Harper’s surprised face. “What do you think about these?”

Tom turned his phone so the screen would face her. Harper grabbed the device from his hand and looked at the image. On the little screen were several ball ornaments - all with characters on them. Very familiar characters.

Harper glanced up from Tom’s phone to see the slight worry in his eyes. “Are these hand painted Harry Potter ball ornaments?” she asked, a slight awe in her tone.

Tom ducked his head, his cheeks glowing red yet again. “Yeah, I thought that maybe we could do a little compromise and get the best from both worlds?” He lifted his gaze to look into her eyes. “What do you think?”

The answer came quickly as Harper flung herself into him again, wrapping her arms around his neck. Tom was lucky this time and quickly wrapped his arms around her waist, staying steady on both feet.

“It’s perfect,” she replied before grabbing his face and leaving a sweet, lingering kiss to his lips. “Absolutely perfect.”

**Author's Note:**

> Legit almost tagged this as "Major Character Death" because the Santa statue fell but then decided against it. Leave a comment telling me how you found out Santa wasn't real! (If this was it, I'm so sorry)


End file.
